Homeschooling Hailey

Education is an atmosphere, a dicipline, a life" - Charlotte Mason

If you know me at all, you know that I'm a planner. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about Hailey's education. She just turned two in March so that means I've got about a year before she starts preschool. I never really thought about teaching her at home. I always just assumed she'd go to a preschool & then an elementary school & so on. The closer we get to all of this, the more research I do, and the more I start to lean towards homeschooling her. Nothing against schools at all. In fact, if we can afford the tuition, I'd really like her to attend our church's private school during her middle school and high school years. We have a while before we have to decide all that so for now, I'll focus on Preschool.

I never thought I would homeschool. I never felt qualified to teach my child. I wasn't the best student when I was in school. I never wanted to engage much. I never had a love for learning unless it was something I wanted to learn. So, I always thought I had no business educating my own child. Then I realized, we had already been teaching Hailey. We taught her how to walk, how to sleep through the night, how to say "please" & "thank you". As a parent, it's most definitely my business to educate my child.

"Every day, every hour, the parents are either passively or actively forming those habits in their children upon which, more than upon anything else, future character & conduct depend" - Charlotte Mason

I realized, I don't have to have every skill to be a homeschooler. As a mother, I only have to be willing to bring the gifts I have to the table & use them to create a unique leaning experience for her. I want to create an atmosphere that delights her & invites her to live & learn alongside me. One prayer I have for her is that she always remain teachable. Homeschooling gives us a great opportunity, with a little imagination and intention, to create an atmosphere in our home that will inspire her to love learning.

I've found some awesome communities & homeschool mamas through social media & Pinterest (I've linked them below). The more I listen to them and read their words, the more confident & excited I feel about taking this homeschool journey. There is so many resources & support for homeschoolers. The curriculum's you can purchase literally have everything mapped out for you. They break everything down & guide you every step. Something I need desperately if I'm going to be a successful homeschooler. HA!

The beautifully detailed parents guide I received with our curriculum gave me a list of things I can be doing before we start schooling. So I'm off to get those started!

If you are a homeschooler, or even if you aren't, what are your favorite resources, books, etc. for education? I'd love to hear your recommendations!

xoxo, Kerrin

Our Curriculum:
The Peaceful Preschool

Our Second Choice Curriculum:
The Habitat Schoolhouse 

Other Great Resources:
The Read-Aloud Revival. Subscribe to the podcast too!
Wild & Free Community. They also have a podcast!
Rose Henges' Homeschool Room Tour

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Lately, At The Farmhouse

Lately, We...

had a visit from my Dad & Stepmom. Bought baby chicks (is that redundant?). Bought a couch. Returned said couch. Bought a brand new couch (I think this ones gonna stick). Bought a chicken coop. Had a visit from my mom. Bought new drywall. Bought a new lawnmower (Daddy is very happy). Started a skincare & workout routine. Got sick. Cut fresh flowers. Hired an electrician. Fixed our oven. Fixed our grill. Grilled Chicken. Grilled Burgers. Started potty training (kill me now). Helped neighbor with fallen over hundred year old tree. Helped other neighbor haul dirt. Saw ducks in our pond. Caught our dog wrestling a raccoon. Put up twinkle lights on our patio. Shopped for patio furniture (horrible disappointment). 

Played outside. Read outside. Found a bird's nest. Found eggshell from bird's nest. Organized the house. Organized the house some more. Got egg collecting aprons. Built Chicken coop. Went to the zoo. Flew kites. Met another neighbor. Bought kid table. Had tea parties. Had a visit from Tyler's parents. Played with bubbles. Played with water guns.

Found treasures thrift shopping. Seriously contemplated whether Hailey really needed to be potty trained. Searched for preschools. Searched for homeschool preschool teaching tools. Bought a changing table (no, i'm not pregnant...). Read & finished a book about a woman who spent time with The Amish. Got the mattress for Hailey's big girl bed. Moved crib out of Hailey's room & into the nursery. Seriously wondered when we're gonna get pregnant again. Celebrated Father's Day.

Adventured around another Idaho town. Found fabulous French children's shop. Bought Hailey a French Doll from said shop. Admired red roses blooming in front garden bed. Put drywall up (YAY! We have walls again!). Picked lighting for hallway. Watched birds pick twigs and create a nest. Sat on & admired my new couch (this ones a keeper). Wondered if I could hire someone to potty train Hailey.

Discovered how content & happy I am with this laid back country life.

xoxo, Kerrin

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Well Hello Again

Hello to my faithful followers... all 6 of you!

A lot has happened since my last post... in 2016. Whoops! Sorry, I haven't posted in a while.

I'll catch you up real quick...

We moved into and out of our fifth wheel. We lived in it for a year and that was enough for me. During that time, we found our dream home - a farmhouse built in 1910 on just under four acres. The former owners did a bang up job of maintaining the thing... please sense my sarcasm! It's been quite a head scratcher with some of the design choices they made but we are slowly making it our own.

Decorating has been the biggest challenge for me. We got rid of all our furniture with the exception of a bed, a dresser & just dining room chairs when we downsized before we moved into the camper. So that's all the furniture we had when we moved into our house. We went from a fully furnished 33 ft to a barely furnished 3,800 square feet.

I'm drowning.

You'd think choosing all new furniture would be fun but it hasn't been for me. I like way too many styles and color pallets and I am having a hard time picking one and sticking to it. And I have this OCD where I have to see the furniture piece in the space to know if it's going to work or not. This disorder is driving my husband nuts! I finally, after two months, chose a couch but am having buyer's remorse about it. We ordered it four weeks ago and we've got two more weeks to go before it'll be here. I'm praying it looks right in the living room otherwise it's going back to the store & we'll have to sit in camp chairs even longer while I start my nonsensical "process" of choosing a couch again. Hubs will not be happy about this.

Along with all the decorating stress, the house did give us a nice 'welcome' with a pipe bursting in our upstairs master bathroom a few weeks ago. It flooded our main floor and basement but thankfully there was only minor damage to the main floor. We'll be getting a nice insurance check to fix all the damages and do a little updating. Right now, we've got walls opened up and flooring pulled out & we are watching our step at every turn. Hence, the lack of photographs of the house in this post.

The guys from the restoration company will be coming by on Monday morning to hopefully get all their junk from the demo out. I'll try to get some pictures posted of the house sometime next week so you all can see it. I have some posted on my Instagram (@iamkerrirose) if you want to check them out.

In the meantime, do any of you happen to know Joanna Gaines? If so, please tell her a sister needs her help.

xoxo, kerri

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This Weeks Inspiration:

Camper Living Inspiration: Check out Ashley (@arrowsandbow) on instagram if you want to see what our life WOULD'VE been like if I was super trendy with decorating the camper and not such a wimp about showering once a week and having to haul off our crap.

Home Decorating Inspiration: I finally settled on a style and it's going to be most like Morgan's (@thewhitefarmhouseblog) on instagram. I don't know what you'd call it but I'm going with Modern Farmhouse Chic. Farmhouse style in a farmhouse, I know, I'm original!

... and uhh did you know that H&M has home decor? uhhhh ya, it does {insert fist pump here}! 

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